APF JOINS LANDLESS PEOPLE’S MOVEMENT FOR JUNE 16TH MARCH IN SOWETO

Thursday 20 August 2009 by Dale

Press Statement (Sunday 14th June 2009)

APF JOINS LANDLESS PEOPLE’S MOVEMENT FOR JUNE 16TH MARCH IN SOWETO

On Tuesday June 16th , the APF will be joining with the Landless People’s Movement (LPM - Gauteng) under the banner of the Poor People’s Alliance (a collection of radical, community based organisations across South Africa) for a march from Morris Isaacson High School to the Hector Pieterson Museum in Soweto. The march will start from 10h00

The LPM Protea South will hold a night vigil of students/youth and their parents on 15th June at the Peacemakers Ground in Protea South, Soweto.

The march is part of reclaiming June 16th for all in our country (and abroad) who fought for the freedoms that rang in the hearts of the students/youth who covered the same route in 1976. Over the years since 1994, the events and actions of June 16th 1976 have been largely de-politicised and official commemorations have become little more then meaningless public relations exercises for the ANC/government.

Remembering June 16 1976

The Soweto uprising started on June 16th 1976 when students marched through the streets of Soweto demanding the scrapping of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in schools. The uprising spread to other parts of the country. Students in places such as Cape Town, Klerksdorp, Bothaville and Port Elizabeth engaged in militant action which challenged apartheid education and apartheid as a political system. The events of 1976 were also important in boosting the morale of all those who were struggling against apartheid and capitalism. It is these events and struggles that produced a cadre that staffed the liberation movement in exile and the trade union and civic movements that were vital in the struggle for democracy.

The struggle for free education continued in the 1980s

The banning of student organisations – SASO and SASM – in 1977 as well as the killing of activists and mass detentions, did not succeed in destroying the spirit of resistance among students for long. In 1980 the Committee of 81, a committee of representatives from schools in the area, led a Western-Cape wide school boycott which also spread to other parts of the country. In the mid-1980s the Congress of SA Students (COSAS) and the Azanian Students Movement (AZASM) led student struggles against the high failure rate in matric, corporal punishment, age restrictions and the shortage of teachers and equipment. Unlike 1976 though, students made a concerted attempt to build alliances with workers and communities. In the 1980s, students saw workers as important agents of socialist change. Students and the youth played an important role in building strong local structures which went a long way in rendering apartheid and capitalism ungovernable.

33 Years on, the ANC Government betrays the traditions and spirit of 1976

Today, the contribution of students/youth to the struggle for democracy, equality and justice as well as the historic people’s struggles of 1976 and the 1980s have been undermined by the politics and economic policies of the ANC government. Since the inception of the neo-liberal economic policy (GEAR) in 1996 relative overall spending for education has declined, education has become increasingly commodified and there has been further private sector involvement in public education. Instead of raising and effectively disbursing adequate revenue and redressing the racial and class imbalances in education provision, the ANC and the government it controls have implemented policies that favour the wealthy and that do not fundamentally address infrastructural and content inequities in education.

As a result, the education system at all levels continues to be in crisis. Government argues that primary and secondary education are free but the reality is that working class parents, many of whom are unemployed, are forced to pay user-fees in schools. The same parents are also compelled to buy uniforms and equipment for their children. There remains a huge shortage of teachers, textbooks as well as classroom and recreational equipment at most schools, especially those in poor communities. There continues to be a high prevalence of HIV-AIDs amongst students and the problem of sexual harassment and abuse of female students continues unabated. Meanwhile, higher education is becoming more and more inaccessible to students from working class communities while education bureaucrats get fat off outrageous salaries.